Generally, in gaming machine play, each player plays individually in an attempt to win a prize. The prize could either be a progressive jackpot to which a number of gaming machines are linked or could be a prize on a stand-alone gaming machine.
When playing for a prize, each player plays on his or her own and it is an isolated experience. In addition, when playing to win a progressive jackpot prize players are, effectively, competing against each other for that prize. Should one of a number of players win the prize, the remaining players obtain no benefit and probably feel a degree of antagonism towards the prize winner.
Once a large progressive jackpot prize has been won there is less incentive for a group of players to play to win the jackpot prize when it is of a smaller amount knowing that, in all likelihood, the prize will increase with the passage of time. Thus, the operators of the venue in which the gaming machines are housed may lose out on turnover as a result of the reluctance of players to play the games.
In this specification, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the term “cooperative gaming” is to be understood as the cooperative interaction of two or more players of gaming machines with the object of sharing their experiences, risks and successes.